After five years
by FifthMarauderTalons
Summary: Draco Malfoy was contented. He rose above his previous struggles and made a life for himself in the wizarding world. He had amazing friends and an extremely successful career. He was contented. So why did he question that state of mind when he met Harry Potter in a coffee shop five years after his departure?


**Hey guys, so this is my first DRARRY fanfic! EEEE I'm so excited, I hope you guys enjoying reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Disclaimer: Of course the characters aren't mine, my name isn't even Joanne**

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The frustration that was slowly rising up the blonde's spine was unfathomable.

He had half a mind to just throw the technological demon halfway across the spacious expanse of the coffee shop; but the presence of ignorant muggles made him recline his intentions and return to exasperatingly attempting to deduce the muggle contraption.

Draco audibly sighed once more. The strange flipping object was mandated by the ministry of magic in a vie for an improvement in muggle relations. The minister, of course, being brought up by muggles herself, was quite adamant in ensuring that every employee in the ministry begin using various types of muggle-made objects like ball-point pens, telephones, mobile phones, and the strange double squared invention that he was currently fumbling with.

Although, Draco didn't mind most of the items that were forcibly integrated. He particularly lacked dislike for the ball-point pen, finding it more efficient than any quill due to the lack of having to dip it in ink every five seconds and worrying about whether the ink had already dried or not. He also favored the use of electronic mail within the ministry, saving him the trouble of summoning an owl and/or charming a piece of parchment.

Being the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, Draco was one of the unlucky few witches and wizards who were tasked with leading this technological transition. As per personal request of Minister Hermione Granger, the heads of all the Ministry's Magical Departments were to pioneer her mandate and become the guiding figures for their staff; once they then begin their attempts in understanding the muggle commodities. But at this point, it seemed as though Draco's employees would be more qualified to teach him a thing or two about this _liptop was it? or was it flip flop? _He even struggled with remembering the thing's bloody name.

Despite his arcane abhorrence towards this particular object, he was currently left with no other choice but to use it, for he had to send an exceedingly paramount missive to the Minister about the disturbance of the wizarding trade locations in France; and his mobile phone was defunctly perched on his bedside table, drained of it's battery life. The Minister refused to accept owl-sent mail, levitating parchments, and even howlers(Which Draco already attempted once before during a previous pique of his frustration; Hermione merely laughed and replied to him through an e-mail, reminding him to use one next time).

He furiously smashed his fingers through the keys, hoping that his frustration with the object would prompt it to work more efficiently, but the minute he clicked the navy blue button that encased the word 'send' the page merely reloaded; and above his type-written message appeared the words '_Email could not be sent as of the moment. Please try again later' _in red.

"Bloody, lunatic muggles...crafting these impossible things. I don't even understand the purpose of creating this. The mobile phones were working just fine, they didn't have to make a larger version." He grumbled mostly to himself.

Draco was quite familiar with his mobile device, it was the muggle contraption that he hated the least. He quite fancied the idea of accomplishing so much with only the swipe of his fingers- and more favorably, his thumb. If it was through using his mobile phone, Draco was already a veteran at making calls, exchanging text messages, and even sending emails. And when the opportunity for relaxation came, he often immersed himself in a distinctly enjoyable game.

He already mastered the art of email sending through his phone, but he couldn't quite comprehend why he was having such a blasted time doing it with his _flop hop? _He still couldn't remember.

Draco raised the teacup carefully placed a few inches away from the device only to find that the cup was empty. He sighed, irate from both the lack of tea and the device's refusal to function properly, and gestured to the barista to refill his cup. He refocused his attention to his current problem while the barista scrambled to serve him a freshly heated dose of earl grey tea.

He hummed in solemnity, forcing his hands to recopy and resend the email again- but the device punished him with the same results as before.

The groan that escaped the blonde's lips were more akin to a growl. He rested his elbows on the counter-top table before him and grazed his pale fingers through his ice-blonde hair and tugged them, leaving it muddled and unkempt.

"Stupid, bloody, muggle thing." He cursed the inanimate object loudly.

As he continued his attempts of re-pasting and re-sending his email, Draco failed to notice the sound of heavy footsteps approach him. "That's it, you look absolutely pitiful."

Draco looked up from his misery and searched for the owner of the voice that spoke those words; only to meet with deep green eyes no longer shielded by a glass barrier.

"Potter" He exhaled. They remained like that for a few more moments, Draco merely looking at the man in stunned silence- and the man returned his gaze with an expressionless face and analyzing eyes.

If he and the supposed Boy-Who-Lived met at such an already frustrating moment when they were still schoolmates, he would have hexed the bespectacled boy and screamed a litany of obscenities, forcing him to remove his presence from within a mile of Draco Malfoy. But after the war, it was a welcome surprise when things slowly began to change. The two no longer shared a heated detestation toward each other. Their relationship opted for a more friendlier route and it began with the two becoming more civil to each other during their eighth and final year at Hogwarts.

Many of the previous seventh years chose to retake or continue their magical education as eighth years. And due to the limited space within the house dormitories, the eighth years were not permitted to reside in their respective house towers but were instead given a private tower of their own.

The segregation of houses was abolished in the rooming assignments for the students in their year; and that resulted in Draco being placed in the same quarters as Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Blaise Zabini. Draco feared that despite Mcgonogal's efforts, house prejudice would still remain rampant within them- especially prejudice directed towards him, with his substantial involvement in the war. But Potter seemed quite determined to simply forego whatever state their relationship was in before and befriended the two Slytherins who occupied the outermost beds of their dorm room. The Weasley was rather reluctant at first; but after a particularly invigorating game of Wizard's chess with the blonde Slytherin, the four became instant friends, catalyzing the many inter-house friendships and relationships that were formed that year.

It was astounding to say the least, but it was welcome. The Hogwarts staff were immensely pleased with the way the eighth years interacted with each other. They took classes with the seventh years and many of them were confounded by the fact that Ron Weasley sat beside Blaise Zabini in the Charms class the Slytherins and Gryffindors shared; or that Hermione Granger partnered with Theodore Nott during an Advanced Potions class where they were required to brew Wolfsbane; and most especially, when Harry Potter made a beeline for Draco Malfoy during breakfast at the great hall and continued further to laugh and joke around with him.

With the older students of Hogwarts casually flaunting their friendships with different houses, the younger generations followed suit. In only a matter of months, the four designated house tables were instead filled with students from a mixture of houses. The only time that one could find house segregation was during Quidditch matches, wherein the students still felt entailed to support their respective house teams, ergo choosing to sit with their own housemates. Although. this could also be due to the fact that the only way that one could retain small fragments of Harry and Draco's previous infamous rivalry, was during matches against each other.

After a lot of convincing from a desperate Harry Potter, Mcgonogal finally allowed the eighth years to participate in Quidditch. Harry returned to his previous position as the Gryffindor Seeker but his title as captain was handed to Ron Weasley, as per his request. Draco on the other hand, retained his seeker position as well but accepted the position as Slytherin's team captain.

The two fought for the snitch with the same passion they had when they were still enemies. Although, there was a decrease in shoving, insulting taunts, and jabs that could possibly leave permanent damage. The two were friends, so regardless of the outcome of each match, they would bicker a bit but still remain so.

After graduation, Weasley and Potter began Auror Training, while Hermione and Draco ventured into the world of Magical Law.

Hermione was a character that Draco was particularly nervous about befriending. A large majority of his previous disposition directly opposed who Hermione was, and he spent most of his school life forcing her to conform to his ideals of superiority and bigotry. But to Draco's luck, she was a kindred soul, and eventually forgave him once he showed her that he truly was sorry for his actions then.

The two became very close during their post-education in Magical Law. They would be seen hanging out together in both muggle and wizarding establishments alike. So it was inevitable that dating rumors between them would circulate. The reactions of the media and the masses to the rumor was quite expected, the same treatment was given to Ron when he publicized that he was dating Pansy Parkinson, a Slytheirn. To say the least, the wizarding world went ballistic.

Reporters from all kinds of news platforms invaded the privacy of their circle of friends. Which encompassed witches and wizards from three of four houses, Namely: Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom, Lovegood, Nott, Zabini, Parkinson, and Draco. Since four of them shared a flat together, the rest of the circle henceforth ruled out hanging out there due to the abundant number of reporters hiding in bushes, climbing windows, and outright blocking any of the residents' path of entry.

The intrusion was quite unwelcome for Draco. He and Hermione were on the verge of finishing their fourth and final year and were very busy with studying for their exams. He did not have the luxury to entertain reporters constantly questioning why Ron decided to date Parkinson instead of Granger when everyone thought that they were going to be together. He and Ron got into a bit of a fit over that; and after a few tactless words that prompted one of them to raise their wands, Hermione stepped in, irate and exhausted, and petrified both wizards. She made them apologize to each other and since the boys knew better than to anger Hermione, they did.

Eventually, the news just died down. But being key players in both sides of the war and close friends of the Savior himself, none of them had much freedom from the press. By the time the rumors of him and Hermione dating arose, he was already used to handling them. He simply called one of the reporters from the daily prophet, made a few deals determining his independence from their prying, and gave him the biggest scoop of all- well, the biggest scoop involving him. After only a matter of hours, Draco's admission of his Homosexuality was front page news everywhere.

His friends were accepting of course, sexuality was never a major subject of prejudice in wizarding culture. Some were surprised, some admitted that they had an inkling of it, and some already knew: Hermione.

From then on each of their careers went on a steady path to success. Now, 10 years later, Hermione was dubbed as the youngest witch or wizard ever to become the Minister for Magic, Ron had eventually decided to quit Auror Training to run the joke shop with George and was now a father of 2 with a stay-at-home wife Pansy, Blaise opened his own apothecary, Longbottom became a Hogwart's Professor, Lovegood was now the editor-and-chief of the internationally acclaimed _Quibbler_, Nott inherited his family's fortune and pursued a career as an entrepreneur in trade, and Draco became the head of the DIMC.

Draco wouldn't ever explicitly tell them, but he held the sentiment that he had to thank them for saving his life.

Despite their demanding schedules, they all still somewhat found time to meet on Sundays for Brunch. They all remained intimately close, becoming the godfathers and godmothers to each other's offsprings and donning the role of best man and maid of honor during each other's weddings. The group of friends still shared the same familiar proximity that they had during their eighth year at Hogwarts.

Well, all of them, except for Harry Potter.

Approximately five years ago, when Shacklebolt was still the acting Minister, Harry Potter was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. And ever the noble sod that he is, he took it. MACUSA requested the services of The Savior in regards to a particularly difficult case involving an escaped death eater residing in their country. Draco couldn't even remember what name Potter mentioned when he announced during one of their Sunday brunches, that he was leaving for America. All Draco could hear then was a deafening sound of a monotonous pitch and the words '_I'm leaving for America in two days' _echoing through his head over and over again.

Potter included that he may be gone for a year or two and that he was sorry about the eventual birthdays and brunches that he would be missing. Everyone was silent when he made this announcement, but after a few moments of deep contemplation, Hermione was the first to smile and hug Harry. "It's okay Harry, your career is important to you. You shouldn't let us get in the way of getting what you want.." The curly haired witch said this as she buried her face in Potter's chest, trying to hide the expression that showed how she truly felt about Harry leaving. But Harry could tell that she was crying, and Draco was biting his lip in an attempt to stop himself from mimicking her.

It was sunny the day that Potter portkeyed out of Britain. The sun was shining brightly, covering the tangible spaces with soft rays and sun sparkles. As if to remind Draco that Potter's departure was fate's will.

Many of his friends were eager to wave Potter goodbye as he left, but Draco decided otherwise. He stayed in his office while patronus after patronus visited him, informing him that '_Harry's Portkey is leaving in a few minutes, aren't you coming?'_;one particularly irritated luminescent lamb from Pansy aimed to land on his head when it arrived and said '_Stop sulking you git and get your ass over here, Harry wants to see you'_. But Draco remained, his feet unmoving, opting to remain firmly glued to his office floor.

Draco couldn't, he didn't have the heart to see raven hair suddenly morphing into nothingness in a flash. He couldn't bear to see the bespectacled idiot send him a look of longing, a look that meant goodbye. He just couldn't comprehend the fact that their Friday night rituals of watching muggle television at Harry's flat would no longer happen; He couldn't, for the life of him, fathom that he wouldn't be able to see that maddening crooked smile for the next two years.

It would seem as though Draco's reasons for his loathsome opinions regarding Harry Potter leaving Britain are simply because they were the best of mates and that the two had formed a dynamic that revolved around each other. Harry was there for Draco when he came out and officially broke off his long standing engagement to one of the Greengrass sisters. Draco was there when Harry had to face the tumultuous aftermath of when the news that Givenra had cheated on him with Victor Krum had circulated around the international press.

It was always Harry and Draco with the two of them, one was never seen without the other. Ever since Ron's relationship with Pansy flourished, he was too busy to maintain his close relationship with Harry, that paved an opportunity for Draco. They were closer than Harry and the Weasley had ever been.

But, unbeknownst to most, Draco's refusal to wave harry goodbye or even acknowledge him during the last few days that he had left in Britain was for selfish reasons.

It was because Draco was inlove with him.

And he was angry, furious at himself for not telling Harry before the wizard had left.

Two years passed by fairly quickly and the duo hardly contacted each other, at least Draco made no such attempts. Harry on the other hand, sent Draco owls almost everyday. But due to the lack of response from a certain blonde wizard, days turned to weeks, that turned to months, then became years; till eventually, he stopped.

Draco was soon informed by Granger that Harry had owled in a request to continue his career path in America. In a moment of sheer stupidity, he was confused as to why Granger even bothered to notify him of this, then he remembered that the woman wasn't labeled as 'The Brightest Witch of her Age' for nothing; Granger knew of his feelings even without him having to tell her explicitly.

So Draco, with eyes widened and mouth hanging open, didn't know what to feel when he saw Harry in his favorite muggle coffee shop on a casual rainy Monday morning.

The said wizard let out a less than audible cough. "Hello Draco" And Draco gulped at those words.

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**Hello everyone! So this is the first chapter of my first fanfic about my FAVORITE HP SHIP: DRARRY!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. **

**So this will be a short fic composed of less than ten chapters and I hope you bear with my slow updates cause I also have my JamesxOC fanfic to finish writing.**

**Originally, this was supposed to be a one shot, but ideas just began to float through my head and I just had to write it all down =.**

**Anywaaay, your feedback is immensely appreciated.**


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